The article in the url below presents stark evidence to suggest that our love of fast fashion is an unsustainable trend:
"Between 1990 and 2018, the latest annual data available, real prices of footwear and clothing halved in the U.S., an analysis by Cambridge Econometrics shows. In the U.K., where consumers can't get enough of cheap fashion brands, prices fell by three quarters."
The trouble is that cheaper clothes appears to encourage consumers to purchase more of them, even while their overall costs decline:
"U.S. consumers spend just 3% of their disposable income on clothing, down from 10% in the 1960s, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data."
The result is incredible amounts of waste:
"Of the roughly 100 billion items of clothing produced each year, more than 50 billion are thrown away and subsequently burned or landfilled within 12 months of being made, according to a recent UBS report."
But, after making this case, the article takes an interesting turn (particularly so, perhaps, because the article appears in the WSJ):
"The situation seems unsustainable, yet investors in fashion stocks face a conundrum: Consumers don't seem to care. The amount of clothing and footwear sold globally fell 10% in 2020, Euromonitor data shows, but that is easily explained by the pandemic-related lockdowns that kept shops shut. Before the Covid-19 outbreak, the amount sold globally was increasing steadily at around 3% a year."
Moreover:
"For now, there is no direct threat of a regulatory crackdown either. The fashion sector's long supply chain cuts across multiple countries and sectors, including petrochemicals for fibre manufacturing, making it more complex for governments to rein in. That is despite the fact that the fashion industry contributes up to 10% of global carbon emissions. By comparison, commercial aviation generates just 2% to 3%, according to Citi analysts."
Yet, in spite of these indicators that there is no impediment to continuing with the status quo, the article introduces a note of caution for existing or potential investors in the industry:
"Environmental, social, and governance risks don't appear to be priced into the share prices of publicly traded fashion companies, even as analysts report that investors are asking more questions about sustainability. That might help explain isolated examples of extreme share-price volatility. Last year, a scandal about labor conditions at British fast-fashion company Boohoo Group wiped 40% off its market value in three trading days."
In other words, just because you can get away with something today does not mean you should; nor does it mean you always will be able to get away with it:
"It is possible that shoppers aren't yet aware of the climate impact of their sartorial choices. … But that could easily change. … Take Sweden, where 'flygskam,' or flight shaming, became a trend in 2018. That led to a 3% fall in domestic passenger travel that year, followed by an 9% drop in 2019, official data shows."
The article concludes by showing however reluctant society is to wake up to the unsustainability of our fashion choices today, the fact that the developing world consumes fractions of what the developed world consumes suggests the industry will need to be more sustainable in the very near future:
"In 2006, Chinese shoppers bought 14 items of apparel every year, but this number had more than doubled by 2019, according to UBS. Americans' purchases also increased over the period, but not by as much—from 48 to 54 items a year."
Take care
David
David Chandler
© Sage Publications, 2020
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Cheap Clothes May Prove Costly
By Carol Ryan
May 22-23, 2021
The Wall Street Journal
Late Edition – Final
B12
